Ever wondered why we call the months what we do?

Let's look at one of the names of the months of the year - ' JANUARY'

January

January is named after the Roman god Janus. As you can see in this print, he had two faces, so he could see the future and the past! He was also the god of doors.

Janus /ˈdʒeɪnəs/

It is also known as the god of beginnings and the endings.

Also, The ancient Greeks had no equivalent to Janus, whom the Romans claimed as distinctively their own.

Beginning of the year - January (Januarius)

On 1 January was a new year day: the day was consecrated to Janus since it was the first of the new year and of the month (kalends) of Janus.

Romans believed the beginning of anything was an omen for the whole. Thus, on that day:

• It was customary to exchange cheerful words of good wishes. 

• Everybody devoted a short time to his usual business, exchanged dates, figs and honey as a token of well wishing and made gifts of coins called strenae.

Romans believed the beginning of anything was an omen for the whole. Thus, on that day:

• Cakes made of spelt (far) and salt were offered to the god and burnt on the altar (a table). 

• There were no animal sacrifices and gods were propitiated (made peace) with offerings of spelt (a type of wheat) and pure salt.

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 How Well Do You Know This Sign?